


Rainy Days

by theartofdreaming



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 14:16:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8984920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theartofdreaming/pseuds/theartofdreaming
Summary: It's Iris's first big assignment for the CCPN and she is running the risk of literally being left standing in the rain thanks to the unpredictable weather - when a kind (and cute) stranger comes to Iris's rescue and saves her day.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there!  
> I wanted to write a short, AU-ish meet-cute for Westallen again (it has gotten much longer than planned, oh well) and this is the result. I hope you're gonna like it :)

 

Iris West was standing at the bus stop, sending a warning glare towards the very dark, very cloudy sky. “Don't you dare raining today,” she muttered under her breath, feeling both irritated and anxious. Today was the day of Iris's first big assignment as a journalist of Central City Picture News. She had started out as a mere intern, her main task getting the 'real' journalists of CCPN their coffees and – yeah, that pretty much had been it (after all, people were busy and couldn't be bothered to answer the trivial questions of an _intern_ ). They soon found out that Iris wasn't one to back down; she had annoyed the heck out of the staff by pestering them with questions (well-thought-out, important questions, mind you, while also being mindful enough not to keep anyone from getting their job done in addition to carrying out the tasks assigned to her – like getting coffee and files). In the end, her “pesky behavior” – as Iris's mentor Mason Bridge liked to call it– paid off: after her internship Iris got offered a job at CCPN. She had spent the first months of her employment writing small stuff for whenever the newspaper needed a filler article and while that on its own was often very frustrating and unrewarding, Iris was determined to make use of every chance she got offered to prove her worth. And now that she had finally been assigned a real story (covering the re-election of Mayor Bellows), she was at risk of looking like a drowned rat by the time she was going to arrive at City Hall – because Iris had forgotten to pack an umbrella.

“Stupid weather,” the journalist growled lowly, angry at herself for being ill-prepared and angry at those dark gray, water-heavy clouds above her head that had turned up without so much as a warning (yesterday's weather forecast hadn't mentioned stupid rain at all).

A single rain drop landed on Iris's nose.

“Shit.”

Before the drizzle could turn into a full-fledged rain shower, the bus that was to take Iris to the city center turned into the street and came to a halt. The journalist hastily got on the bus. As soon as she had hopped on board, the rain was coming down in buckets.

'Okay... maybe the rain is going to ebb down before I have to get off... or it's just a shower and will stop soon altogether,' Iris reasoned, trying to think positively. The rain drops drummed with even more force and a more erratic rhythm against the bus windows.

Low-spirited, Iris sank deeper and deeper into her seat close to the door, carefully avoiding the drenched people boarding the bus and the dripping wet umbrellas that were hauled around (not that her effort to stay dry would matter later when she was going to get off her destination, she realized grimly).

* * *

 

Her final bus stop was on next and it was still raining like crazy. Sighing, Iris gathered her bag (glad that it was water-proof bag and could be zipped closed; at least her notes weren't going to get wet), maneuvering around rain jackets (of the prepared) as well as damp arms and dripping hair (of the unprepared). Iris stood at the door, waiting for the bus to come to a full stop, a (dry) tall young man next to her. He was clutching a big red umbrella close to his body, the water running down the umbrella dripping down on his worn out sneakers.

“That horrific weather really came out of nowhere today, huh?” He said conversationally, giving Iris a bashful smile.

“Mhm,” was all the response Iris could muster, pulling her face into an expression that must have come across as a pained smile, because immediately after that, the stranger examined her more thoroughly, suddenly becoming aware of Iris's lack of protection from the elements.

“Oh,” he began apologetically, realizing his blunder. Before he could say any more, the bus doors opened.

Taking a deep breath, Iris hopped off the bus, barely navigating around the big puddle awaiting her outside. The first few rain drops were hitting her hair and skin, big and cool and wet.

She heard an umbrella pop open behind her. The sound was followed by a nervous, “um, hey, excuse me?”

Iris turned around, seeing the tall young man who had tried to strike up a conversation with her, smiling sheepishly. Iris noticed that he was currently holding the big, red umbrella very awkwardly in a sweet attempt at covering them both from the cascades of rain still coming down from the heavens, despite them standing fairly far apart.

“Yeah?” Iris asked, taking a step closer to the stranger, so he could at least get a more comfortable grip.

“Um,” he muttered, a faint blush blossoming on his face.

Iris couldn't help but notice that he was kind of cute, with his boyish looks and pretty green eyes, framed by unfairly long lashes.

But no matter how cute the guy was, Iris had a conference to get to and the sooner she made her way to City Hall, the more likely was she going to have a chance of getting herself at least decently dry before Bellows was going to make his speech.

“Yeah?” she repeated, with a little more urgency this time.

“Oh um, I'm sorry for – I didn't realize...” Umbrella-dude was gesticulating frantically, stumbling over his words.

“It's okay,” Iris reassured him, strangely touched by his awkward stammering. “Not all of us can be perfect boy scouts,” she added teasingly, nodding at his umbrella, “always prepared, huh?”

The guy gave Iris a bright smile, ducking his head shyly. Gosh, he **really** was cute. And Iris **really** needed to get going.

“Well, um, I've got to go... I have to get to City Hall for the press conference and well, I'm from the press, so... Wouldn't want to mess up my first big assignment, right?” Oh God, why was she babbling like a complete idiot now?!

“Oh yeah, of course, I didn't mean to keep you, sorry,” Boy Scout started gesticulating wildly again. “Oh, and here, take this,” he added as an afterthought, practically shoving his umbrella into her hands.

Iris dumbly stared at the umbrella in her hand, then at the guy who had given it to her, before she finally finding her voice again: “What? No, I couldn't-”

But Boy Scout simply waved her protest aside: “It's no big deal, really. I just have, like, two blocks ahead of me and then I'll be safe at work, so no problem,” he gave Iris a reassuring smile, before hastily adding: “Oh and good luck with your assignment, I'm sure you're gonna do great, bye!”

And with that, he turned around, hurrying down the street

Iris kept staring at his retreating figure, completely befuddled. The rain was still pouring down like crazy, drumming angrily on the bright red fabric of Boy Scout's umbrella. Iris couldn't fight the wide smile forming on her face, the realization of what had just happened slowly sinking in.

It took her a few minutes until she finally snapped out of her reverie and made her way to City Hall.

* * *

 

The following Tuesday was yet another rainy day. It was 7 p.m. and someone with a bright red umbrella was standing on the front porch of the West-Family-Home.

The door opened and Detective Joe West appeared in the doorway, smiling at his visitor: “Oh man, it's really coming down this week, isn't it? Come in, baby.”

Iris gave her father a bright smile, always happy to see him for their weekly family dinner.

She entered the house, closing the umbrella she had been carrying around with her ever since a cute, adorable stranger had given it to her in time of need, putting it in the umbrella stand right by the front door. The journalist would never have admitted it out loud, but she had actually considered trying to find Boy Scout again. Unfortunately, she didn't have too many clues to go from: all she knew was that he had a job somewhere close to City Hall and that his first name probably began with either a “B” or a “D” and that his surname was something like “Allan” or “Allen” (at least that is what she could make out from that sloppy scrawl on the umbrella's tag). Iris knew that a Google search could probably help her out a lot, but it felt like a creepy thing to do (not that spending almost half an hour trying to decipher almost illegible handwriting wasn't any less creepy or pathetic). But Iris wasn't **that** desperate. At least not yet.

The heavenly smell of her dad's homemade lasagna that wafted from the kitchen, as well as the clamorous arrival of Wally, who had still been out due to one of his later college classes, startled Iris out of her musings. With her energetic little brother in the house, the evening immediately turned into an endless string of teasing and joking around, effectively distracting Iris from her thoughts about tall cute strangers with pretty eyes.

 

Funnily enough, it was her Dad that brought (albeit unknowingly) Boy Scout back to Iris's attention, when he began telling a story about “that tardy CSI Allen-kid” during dessert.

Iris perked up her ears: “Allen-kid?”

Only now did the journalist realize that her father's precinct was pretty much about two blocks away from the bus stop she had met her Boy Scout at...

_**If this “Allen-kid”'s first name now started with either a “B” or “D”-** _

“Barry Allen.”

_**Jackpot.** _

“The kid's a brilliant forensic scientist but heaven forbid he actually arrives at the precinct or a crime scene on time! That tardiness of his drives Singh absolutely mad... Last Wednesday Allen arrived fifteen minutes late, completely drenched from the rain, looking like he had swum to work or something,” Joe was about to conclude his story, before adding, incredulously: “He was in a surprisingly great mood though.”

“Huh, weird.” Iris remarked casually, eyes trained solely on the cherry in her fruit salad she was about to spear with her fork, hoping that her dad and brother weren't able to notice the blush she was fighting off.

* * *

 

Next day, during her lunch break, Iris gathered up her courage and Barry Allen's red umbrella and made her way to the CCPD. She was greeted by a few officers of the precinct and asked her way to the CSI lab upstairs while making sure to avoid her dad (Iris wasn't naive enough to think that she could outsmart **the** Detective West; and she wasn't ready to face the  interrogation that would undoubtedly follow revealing the reason why she was actually dropping by; she was nervous enough at it was).

It didn't take the journalist long to climb the stairs that led her to the open door of the crime lab. Iris peeked inside to find her Boy Scout – Barry Allen – seated by a desk, studying something under a microscope.

Taking in a deep breath, Iris knocked on the metal door and carefully enter the room with an upbeat “Hi!”

The forensic scientist's head snapped up from the ocular, green eyes widening with surprise as they took her in.

“Oh... Hi.” The CSI greeted her, blinking furiously like he couldn't really believe she was actually there. “How come... So, you just happened to... Um... You're here. In my lab.” He spluttered nervously, clambering to his feet.

Iris couldn't help her cheeky reply: “A very astute observation, CSI Allen.”

The scientist blushed furiously.

“It's just... I didn't expect you to turn up here – though it's nice to see you! And, um, what brings you here?”

Iris was amused to see him gesticulating wildly again; the way he was talking with his hands was kind of endearing: “Just wanted to return your umbrella – thank you so much for lending it to me,” she smiled up brightly at him (he was really tall), while handing over the umbrella, “you really saved my day.”

The CSI blushed slightly, dismissively waving his empty hand: “It was nothing, really.”

He eyed her curiously, “You could have kept it, I didn't expect you to give it back – hey, how did you find me, anyway?”

Iris couldn't fight the grin blossoming on her face: “I'm a journalist, remember? Also, you **did** write your name on the tag, so that certainly helped.”

The look on the scientist's face was absolutely priceless.

“Oh right... you could read that?”

Iris couldn't help but laugh at his obvious surprise: “Just barely. I pity the poor detectives that actually have to decipher your reports.”

“It's a daily struggle,” the CSI replied gravely, the apparent smile tugging at the corner of his lips betraying the (fake-)serious tone in his voice.

“I can imagine – I wasn't sure if that first initial was supposed to be a “B” or an “D”...”

The forensic scientist looked at Iris in amazement: “And you figured out who I was and where to find me simply from my nearly illegible scrawl?”

“Not quite,” Iris admitted, “ I had figured out your last name and then my dad actually mentioned your name during dinner yesterday – he's a cop,” Iris explained, “ and I realized that the precinct is about two blocks away from the bus station – so here I am.”

“Oh...” Boy Scout muttered under his breath, concentrated look on his face, “- so you're Detective West's daughter?”

“That I am,” Iris confirmed laughingly, holding out her hand for him to shake, “great solve, CSI Allen.”

He went along with her gesture, assuring her that “Barry works just fine.”

The journalist nodded in acknowledgment, then introduced herself as “Iris.”

“So, you really just came by to return the umbrella, or...?”

This time it was Iris's turn to blush. “I don't know...” She averted her eyes, unable to bring herself to meet his – she hadn't really dared to figure out why she had so desperately wanted to return that umbrella to Boy Scout – Barry – in person...

Iris just now became acutely aware of how ridiculous her plan (if you could even call it a plan) had been: all it had accomplished was that she had utterly embarrassed herself in front of a guy who just was sincerely nice...-

“I read your article.”

“Huh?” Iris said unintelligibly, raising her gaze to look at a sheepishly looking Barry Allen.

“I read your article,” he repeated, nervously rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand, “ I mean, I didn't know your name yet, so I just read about every article that covered Bellows' re-election; and in case I didn't read it, I certainly will look it up now – but I really wanted to read your article.”

He looked so nervous, wringing the umbrella he was still holding with fumbling hands while also wearing a tentative, hopeful expression on his face. Iris's heart fluttered at the sight.

“That's really sweet of you.”

“Yeah?” The CSI asked tentatively, a small smile stealing its way unto his face before he ducked his head again, slightly blushing

Gosh, Barry Allen really was just too adorable for his own good...

Iris had an idea: “Hey, I was going to go grab some lunch before I have to head back to the CCPN... Do you wanna join me?

Her question was met with a beaming smile by Barry: “That actually sounds really great.”

He quickly grabbed the jacket that was draped over the chair by his desk, shrugging it on. The two of them were just turning around to leave, when the sudden sound of rain pelting against the lab windows caught both their attention.

Another unexpected rain shower.

Incredulous, Iris stared at the window: “Unbelievable.”

“I guess you didn't bring another umbrella?” Barry asked teasingly, before offering: “We can share mine.”

Iris smiled. It felt kinda appropriate.

“Sounds like a plan,” she said happily, giving Barry's arm a brief tug, ready to head out: “let's go then.”

**Fin.**

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm currently working on another story I planned on publishing before Christmas, but I think that it's gonna be finished closer to New Year's Eve...  
> So merry Christmas / happy holidays to you all!


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